


The Trials and Tribulations of Hand Holding

by toasty_coconut



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: F/F, Fluff, light humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:14:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26104021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toasty_coconut/pseuds/toasty_coconut
Summary: Diana had no idea how Akko was always able to hold her hand so easily. She wanted to be able to do the same. But, as it turns out, holding hands is an incredibly complicated matter.
Relationships: Diana Cavendish/Atsuko "Akko" Kagari
Comments: 33
Kudos: 150





	The Trials and Tribulations of Hand Holding

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Diakko Week 2020's theme of "hand holding/cuddling".

Diana had no idea how Akko did it. She made it seem so easy—like there _weren’t_ ten million thoughts rushing through her head every time she did it. Any time Diana so much as considered it, her mind overflowed with dozens of concerns: What if Akko didn’t like it? What if she thought it was weird? What if her timing was off? What if her palms were so clammy that it grossed Akko out?

Yes, trying to hold someone’s hand was an incredibly complicated matter.

And yet, Akko always did it in a single, swift motion—as if there was nothing to it. In the month that they had been dating, Akko had always been the one to initiate the hand-to-hand contact. Whereas, any time Diana tried it for herself, she became overwhelmed with thoughts of rejection and painfully embarrassing maladroitness.

Even as the pair walked side-by-side down the halls of Luna Nova, Diana couldn’t avert her attention from the hand that hung loosely at Akko’s side. It would be so easy to reach out and grab it. Her fingers quivered. All she needed to do was— 

“Diana? Are you listening?”

Diana paused, Akko was leaning toward her, her brows knitted in confusion.

“Sorry. I must have been distracted for a moment.”

“Everything okay?”

“Yes, everything is fine,” Diana dismissed. “What is it that you were saying?”

“Oh! I was just asking if you’d be willing to help me with my magic numerology homework later?”

“Of course.” Diana smiled. “I’m yours.”

Akko beamed. “Great! Now I’ll have it done in no time!”

Diana laughed lightly at the enthusiasm, but her mind drifted back to the cause of her distraction in the first place. Her gaze flicked to Akko’s hand once more. There it was in all its glory—unheld. It would only take a single motion to intertwine their fingers. Then they could walk the remainder of the way to the cafeteria hand-in-hand. It would be _so_ easy.

Tentatively, she reached out. Her fingertips trembled slightly as they inched closer and closer to Akko’s.

But all of Diana’s efforts came screeching to a halt when Akko spotted something down the hall and suddenly flared with rage. She stormed past Diana, waving a fist in the air. “Hey! Amanda!” she barked, stomping forward.

Diana froze. Upon turning she could see the fiery haired student in question standing at the other end of the hallway. She flinched at the sound of Akko’s voice, and Diana was pretty sure she heard an, ‘ _Oh shit!_ ’

“Where’s the money you owe me!?” Akko demanded, running at her friend. Amanda’s only response was to turn on her heel and book it away from her. “Get back here, you thief!”

Akko gave chase, taking a sharp turn down the north hallway. In the distance, she could hear angry shouting, followed by a loud crash, then more shouting.

Diana stood alone, flabbergasted by the event that had just unfolded. She had been so close, but right as she was at the finish line, Amanda O’Neill had to show up and pull the rug out from underneath her.

Letting out a long, frustrated sighed, Diana clenched the empty fist at her side.

* * *

“Akko. Pay attention.”

“I am.”

“You’re not.”

Akko puffed her cheeks at Diana, resting her head on the laboratory table. She groaned, burying her face into her arms. “I’m sorry! I can’t help it! This project is so _dumb_.”

“I fail to understand how learning to make insect spirit nullification potions is anything of the sort,” Diana disagreed, pouring a vial of salp extract into the cauldron on the table.

Akko peeked out from her arms, shooting Diana an annoyed glare.

Diana avoided her stare. “Yes, I’ll admit, the subject matter is a little… dull… but it’s important.” She pointed to a small tray of white rocks that sat in front of them. “Now, please crush these silverfang stones into a powder so we can begin the brewing process.”

“I don’t even know how to crush them!” Akko argued, picking one up and attempting to squeeze it between her fingers. “They’re… uncrushable!”

“You’re not using the proper technique,” Diana observed, flipping a page in Akko’s textbook. She pointed to a list of numbered instructions. “All of the directions are right there in the text. Perhaps you should read up on them.”

Akko let out a disgruntled snort, dropping the stone back onto the tray. She rested her chin on the table, scanning over the text.

Diana rubbed a temple as she returned to her own work. She had taken up this magic pharmaceuticals project alongside Akko in the hopes of teaching her a thing or two that would actually stick. However, Akko had been _persistently_ difficult throughout the process, as her disinterest in insect spirit nullification was painfully obvious.

Not that Diana could blame her.

Admittedly, she did feel a twinge of guilt. They had originally planned to spend their day out on a date in Blytonbury. But one thing led to another and instead they wound up spending their Saturday afternoon brewing ‘the world’s most boring potion’, in Akko’s words. She at least appreciated Akko’s efforts and supposed she would need to make it up to her later.

Diana glanced Akko up and down. She was drumming her fingers repeatedly on the table as her eyes glazed over the instructions. Diana bit her lip. Maybe giving Akko some small words of encouragement would help her get through this project a little more efficiently?

And some physical affection, perchance?

Namely, a gentle touch of the hand?

She wondered what Akko would think if she were to simply reach over and place a hand on top of hers—would that be odd? Would it only serve to distract her? Would she think that Diana was trying to imply something she wasn’t?

That was a silly thought.

Taking a small breath and gathering her courage, Diana decided the only way to find out would be to try it for herself. She cleared her throat, scooting her chair closer to Akko’s. Akko didn’t look up. She didn’t even seem to hear the sound of the chair scraping against the floor. The only change to her expression was the yawn she let out.

Okay. So far, so good.

Diana swallowed, inching her hand closer and closer to Akko’s. Perhaps, if she did it slowly enough, Akko wouldn’t even notice. But didn’t she _want_ Akko to notice? Wasn’t that the point? How awkward would it be if she didn’t notice? Diana didn’t want to sit there holding the hand of an unresponsive Akko for five minutes. But if she did it too fast then would Akko be off-put by her?

Shaking her doubts away, Diana decided it best to just go for it.

“Oh, I get it!” Akko’s abrupt exclamation, along with the slam of her hands against the table, nearly made Diana jump in her seat.

Akko made a grab for the mortar and pestle on the table and eagerly poured the silverfang stones inside. She grinned, using the pestle to ground them up in a circular motion. As she did, they began to crumble apart into dust.

“It worked!” Akko flashed Diana a confident thumbs-up. “Thanks for the advice, Diana! You’re the best!”

As Akko got back to work, Diana sat entirely still.

Had that actually happened again? That was the second time that week her hand had been flat out rejected.

Sort of.

She glimpsed down at her hand resting on the table. Sighing, she slipped it back into her lap.

“You’re welcome.”

* * *

“Jasminka knew what she was talking about with this place. This is the best ice cream I’ve ever had!” Akko proclaimed, taking a lick of her triple layered ice cream cone.

Diana shot Akko an amused smirk, raising a brow. “I’m fairly certain that more of it has ended up on your face than in your mouth.”

Akko glanced down at her nose. Sure enough, her face was covered in splatters of pink, orange, and yellow. Akko huffed, picking up a napkin to wipe herself clean. She looked at the small cup Diana had. “I still can’t believe it, though—they have 300 flavors and you pick the most basic one on the list.”

“Is there something wrong with vanilla?”

“Yeah. It’s _boring_.”

“You know I don’t care for sweets.”

“Because you don’t give them a chance!” Akko countered and Diana narrowed her gaze. They had had this conversation on more than one occasion. No matter how many times Diana _insisted_ that she didn’t care for sweets, Akko would always find a way to rebuttal her.

“Vanilla is fine, Akko.” Diana rolled her eyes. “The sweetness isn’t as overwhelming as… What was it?”

“Triple Strawberry Cake Batter Blast.”

“Yes, that.” Diana took a bite of her ice cream. “Vanilla is the right amount of sweet. I like it.”

“Okay, if your vanilla is so good, let me have a bite and I’ll be the judge of that!”

“You…” Diana blinked, “want to try some?”

“Yeah! Just a spoonful!”

Figuring that allowing Akko to try a bit might finally get her off of her case, Diana nodded. “All right.”

Filling her spoon with a small amount of vanilla ice cream, Diana lifted it to hand it off to Akko. Much to her surprise, instead of taking the spoon herself, Akko’s response had been to lean in and take a bite.

Diana’s eyes widened, a small blush dusting her cheeks as Akko pulled back. She tilted her head, as if giving the flavor a second to sink in before making her final judgement. After a beat, her face lit up.

“Hey, that’s not half bad!” Akko decided, putting a hand to her chin. “Not as good as mine, but still pretty good. I guess I can see the appeal.”

Diana huffed. “Well, I’m glad my taste in ice cream doesn’t bore you terribly, then.”

Akko giggled, returning to licking away at her own ice cream cone. Diana glanced at the spoon in her hand that Akko had taken a bite from. The heat almost returned to her cheeks at the memory of it.

Her gaze trailed down to where Akko’s hand rested on the bench beside her. That was when the urge came back. Surely this was as good a time as any to do it, right? They _were_ on a date, after all. Holding hands was something couples did on dates.

Though, the people walking up and down the busy street had her mind flooding with doubts. What if someone saw? Not that she cared what other people thought, but what if someone who didn’t know of her relationship status misinterpreted? She wouldn’t want false rumors being spread about the Cavendish heiress sneaking around, having some kind of love affair. It would only serve to paint Akko in a bad light.

Or what if her hands were sticky from the ice cream they had been eating? Then again, she was eating with a spoon and they didn’t _seem_ to be dirty—so was that really cause for concern? The possibility of them being sweaty remained as pressing of an issue as ever, though. The last thing she wanted was for Akko to be grossed out by clammy palms.

Diana shook her head. She was being ridiculous. She knew she was being ridiculous. She was only trying to psyche herself out and look for an excuse to _not_ hold her girlfriend’s hand. She just had to get it over with, like ripping off a bandaid. Perhaps once she did then she would be able to do it as naturally as Akko was able to.

Perhaps these intrusive thoughts would go away, too.

Swallowing, Diana inched her hand closer to Akko’s on the bench. Her fingers trembled as the side of her hand made contact with the side of Akko’s. She was almost there. All she needed to do now was lift her hand and clasp it around— 

“Woah!” Akko exclaimed, making a sudden jerking motion to catch a scoop of ice cream that had tipped off the top of her cone.

Diana nearly gaped at the sight of Akko holding a melting scoop of pink ice cream in her palm—ice cream that had almost fallen directly on Diana’s skirt, had Akko’s reflexes not been so quick.

“That was a close one! Sorry, Diana,” Akko laughed sheepishly. She rose to her feet, holding the fallen ice cream away from her body. “I’ll… go get some napkins.”

With that, Akko took off toward the shop to wash up. Diana watched as she disappeared through the double doors. For a moment, she sat completely motionless. Then, she groaned quietly, leaning back against the bench.

This was hopeless.

* * *

“Do you remember the time she went to Beijing?”

“And did the 60-meter freefall from her broom?”

“Yeah! Man, when they put footage of that online I almost had a heart attack. I thought she was dead!”

The Luna Nova grounds were mostly silent. The majority of students had already retreated to their dormitories for the evening. However, Akko was very insistent that she wanted to take a nighttime stroll alongside ‘the prettiest girl on campus’. Diana had initially refused, claiming that they would be out after curfew, thus breaking school rules.

And yet, there they were, laying side by side in the grass of the Cafeteria Vestibule—and they had been for at least an hour at that point. They talked about everything and nothing at all. Diana almost couldn’t believe herself, but this wouldn’t have been the first time Akko made her question her own behavior.

Akko sat up, grinning. “Hey, do you think Professor Ursula would be willing to show _me_ how to do that?”

Akko freefalling for 60 meters played in Diana’s mind, but she quickly channeled it out before seeing whatever the end had in store. “I think you should focus on the basics for a while longer.”

Akko whined, laying back down and kicking her legs childishly. “But if I focus on the basics forever then I’ll never get anywhere!”

“Nobody said it was forever,” Diana pointed out, rolling onto her side and offering Akko an amused smile, “but maybe at least until you can hover higher than six feet off the ground.”

“I guess so,” Akko conceded, a bit glum. Though, she was fast to bounce back, lighting up again as she rolled on her side to face Diana. “But when I _do_ do a 60-meter freefall for a crowd of a billion fans, will you be there to cheer me on?”

Diana laughed. “To cheer you on _and_ to make sure someone is there to catch you if things go south.”

“Hey! Have some faith!” Akko puffed her cheeks. “What happened to ‘believing in my believing heart’?”

“I do believe,” Diana affirmed, sliding her hand to intertwine her fingers with Akko’s. “But even the strongest of believers worry at times.”

“Aw, you’re worried about me?” Akko grinned devilishly. “That’s cute.”

“Well, you consistently give me reason to.”

“What’s life without a little thrill?”

“There’s a fine line between thrill and recklessness.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Akko drawled, her expression going soft as she squeezed Diana’s hand. “Glad I can rely on you to catch me, regardless.”

Just the way Akko looked at her made Diana melt. A warmth spread throughout her chest that left her feeling lighter than air. She ran her thumb over the smooth skin of Akko’s hand. As she did, Akko gave it a gentle squeeze. Diana almost felt as if she could—

Wait.

Diana froze over, her eyes widening as her cheeks began to glow red. She had just rubbed her thumb over Akko’s hand. Akko had just _squeezed_ her hand... But when had she even started holding it in the first place? Surely she would have noticed if Akko had been the one to touch her first.

So, did that mean…?

Had she…?

When did she…? 

“Diana?”

Diana glanced down to make absolutely sure she wasn’t imagining things. There it was, plain as day—their fingers interlocked. Had she actually held Akko’s hand without even realizing it? There was no way that was possible.

Every instance prior she had carefully planned it out and considered her every move. She had stressed and worried time and time again about what Akko would think or what others would think. How could she just _do it_ so carelessly without a single thought?

“Hello? Earth to Diana?” Akko’s voice cut in, waving her free hand in front her. “You okay?”

Diana blinked several times, her mind skidding back into reality. Akko was looking at her in confused concern. She seemed totally unaffected by the gesture, like she wasn’t even aware it had happened.

“I… Yes…” Diana managed, attempting to find the words. “I just…”

But maybe that was it? Had she really been overthinking something so small this entire time? Was it really meant to be that simple?

She could feel Akko’s fingertips rubbing gently against her knuckles—a motion which put her mind at ease. Her heart slowed as her body relaxed. The warmth from before began pulsing through her again.

Of course it was.

A small gesture of love didn’t need to be coated with stressors and concerns.

Diana had spent her entire life considering her every move, making sure that everything she did was befitting of a Cavendish. How others judged her words and actions had always been at the absolute forefront of her mind. She couldn’t do anything that would somehow make her appear anything less than the image of perfection.

But she never needed to worry about that with Akko. She could make a complete fool of herself and Akko would continue to love her unconditionally. Akko would never think her actions odd or unsightly. Even if her hands were slick with sweat or ice cold to the touch, that wouldn’t change how Akko felt about her.

She loved her, plain and simple.

It was why Akko never had to think about the appropriate time and manner to hold hands. It was irrelevant to her. She truly _didn’t_ think about doing it—she simply did it because in that moment, it felt right. She followed her heart, not her mind.

Perhaps just then, Diana had finally done the same.

“It’s nothing,” Diana assured with a tender smile. Akko smiled back as Diana touched their foreheads together, squeezing her hand tighter. “Everything is perfect.”

* * *

_End._


End file.
